“Clever and civilized men will not stay home
Leave your homeland and explore foreign fields
Go out! You shall find replacement for those you have left
Give your all, the sweetness of life will be tasted after the struggle
I have seen that standing water stagnates
If it flows, it is pure, if it does not, it will become murky
If the lion doesn’t leave his den, he will not eat
If the arrow does not leave the bow, it will not strike
If the sun stands still in its orbit
Man will tire of it
Gold dust merely soil before excavated
Aloewood is just ordinary wood if in the forest

Psychologists say it takes 21 days to form a habit, including a new belief system, with repetition being key. I call this how to brainwash yourself.

Your mind is extremely powerful. It records what you are hearing or saying. It records all your life memories and events as mental movies. It does not hear NOT or NO. If you say I will not procrastinate, it hears “procrastinate“. It cannot comprehend the future. It only knows the present. That is why you should always see your goals as accomplished. It does not know the difference between imagination and reality. That is why we get scared at the movies.

You will draw to yourself the situations, circumstances, people, and events that match your dominant feelings, thoughts, and words. You usually thinkthe same thoughts over and over again, and that is why you get the same results over and over again. It’s no wonder Albert Einstein said “Insanity is doing the same things over and over again and expecting different results”. So, how do we brainwash ourselves? I find the following four steps effective in brainwashing yourself.
Firstly,1. Make a list of what you want in full details. This may be things about Lifestyle, education, adventure, or public speaking, whatever it is.2. Visualize having already attained your heart’s desire. Maybe see yourself speaking at Engage. Begin to talk about what you desire as if it’s already a fact. Use your imagination as a child and pretend. For example, talk about your new found love. Talk about that residence in a top address. Talk about how you are a great public speaker. Stay away from any influence that contradicts your wishes. This can be negative people, negative movies, or even news.3. Create an affirmation for your needs. For example, “I am”, or “I have” then add your need. For example, “I am a great public speaker”. Every day, recite the affirmation over and over again. Do this for a minimum of 21 days. Make sure it does not feel like work. “I am a great public speaker. I am a great public speaker”.4. Repeat, Repeat, Repeat, until you believe it. Repetition creates new beliefs in the subconscious mind. For example positive affirmations work even if you don’t belief them at the beginning. You attract the things that you think about most often.

To recap, make a list of your desires, visualise having achieved your desire, recite your affirmation, and Repeat.

Remember, it takes a minimum of 21 days to create a new belief system.

A Toastmasters CC2 Organise your speech, delivered on 1st November 2017, at United Kenya Club, Nairobi, Kenya. NB. Most of the actual speech was paraphrased, and did not follow the script written here

I was having a conversation with @MercyMutemi, and it came to the elected representatives in Kenya who have got into power despite being implicated in grant corruption. “Yaani. We love thieves. Love them. Love them!”, Mercy exclaimed. This led to this social explanation on why we love our looters.

The Tragedy of the Commons.

The tragedy of the commons is an economic problem in which every individual tries to reap the greatest benefit from a given resource. As the demand for the resource overwhelms the supply, every individual who consumes an additional unit directly harms others who can no longer enjoy the benefits. Generally, the resource of interest is easily available to all individuals; the tragedy of the commons occurs when individuals neglect the well-being of society in the pursuit of personal gain. (Source: Investopedia).

Ok, let me now put the Tragedy of Commons into context where the normal villager can understand. This is if you have ever been to a grazing field. In most African societies, we have common grazing fields. All villagers graze on common grazing fields. This is what we call community land. But because the land has no ownership, we overstock livestock, deplete the pasture, until there is no enough for our livestock, and our animals die. On the other hand, if you have your own land, say 10 acres, you will be careful not to overgraze or overstock. So you will partition your land into paddocks, and ensure your animals graze in the paddocks using a pre-determined timetable not to deplete the pasture. That is the perfect example of the tragedy of the commons.

The tragedy of the commons: We only care if our MCA, MP, or Governor stealing from us. But if our Minister or President is stealing, he is our tribal hero. He is increasing the size of our paddocks.

What is the political relevance?

If a politician from our tribe is stealing, we have some untold pride. They are grazing on the community land of other communities thus not affecting us. We are sad if a politician from the other tribe is stealing from the common basket of all communities. We are sad when our governor steals because we are all from the same tribe in a county. The governor is grazing alone in our communal land, and denying us opportunity also to graze. All this translates into the convoluted book by Michela Wrong of 2010 who quoted whistle blower John Githongo philosophy of “it’s our time to eat”.

In a nutshell, the idea is this, if the politicians are stealing from the National coffers, then they are stealing for us, and denying other communities [enlarging our paddocks]. Which is good for us. That is the narrative some politicians use in their campaigns. They tell the electorate they stole from government to bring to them. Perfect psychology that sells to the majority simpletons in our midst. When one of our own steals, we say “wacha ajisaidie na pesa ya serikali”. We never see it as our money. Its on a bigger budget pool that we cannot comprehend. We don’t even know how it is distributed. That is the main reason we love our thieves. We love our thieves, that is in no doubt. Check the results of your last elections, and see how many politicians who looted public resources are back in positions of power and influence.

Tesla unveiled the Model 3 in 2016, with Elon Musk promising a cheaper electric car than the Tesla Roadster and Model S.

In July 28 2017, Tesla hosted its delivery event for the first batch of 30 Model 3s pre-ordered in 2016. During this event, they released a bunch of information regarding the price, options, features, and specs of the Model 3.

David Imai, Senior Manager, Exterior and Interior Design at Tesla described the Tesla as designed in a way where “form can follow function without sacrificing comfort, performance, or styling”, because the cars have been build from the ground up.

The Model 3 starts at $35,000, but with options the price can get as high as $59,500. This dies not include taxes for your final destination, or country.

For a while now, there have been rumors of Bitcoin war. The two camps have been sparing for over a year, and the fight is scheduled on 31st July 2017 Midnight. The winner will be announced on August 2017. That whole month will be used to evaluate the winner.

The War

This fight has been necessitated by a number of proposals for technical changes to Bitcoin – that is User Activated Hard Fork (UAHF) vs User Activated Soft Fork (UASF)

The User Activated Hard Fork (UAHF) is a proposal to increase the Bitcoin block size scheduled to activate on August 1. The UAHF is incompatible with the current Bitcoin ruleset and will create a separate blockchain. Should UAHF activate on August 1, there will be a new blockchain spewing out new coin associated with that Fork.

The User Activated Soft Fork (UASF) is a proposal to adopt Segregated Witness on the Bitcoin blockchain and could result in network instability. It is scheduled to activate at the same time as the UAHF on August 1.

If you have your bitcoins in any BTC wallet, be sure to find out which side your wallet is cheering, because that will decide the value of what you will be holding after the war is over.

Why have 2 different forks?

SegWit

The problem that the Bitcoin platform is facing is that as more and more transactions are being conducted, more blocks have to be added to the chain. Blocks are generated every 10 minutes and are constrained to a maximum size of 1 megabyte (MB). Due to this constraint, only a certain number of transactions can be added to a block. The weight of the transactions, represented by the blocks, is weighing down the network and causing delays in processing and verifying transactions, in some cases, taking hours to confirm a transaction as valid. Imagine all Bitcoin transactions that have been carried out since the inception of Bitcoin in 2009 sitting on the blockchain and still piling up. Long term, the system would not be sustainable if a radical change is not made.

SegWit is the process by which the block size limit on a blockchain is increased by removing signature data from Bitcoin transactions. When certain parts of a transaction are removed, this frees up space or capacity to add more transactions to the chain.

Segregate means to separate, and Witnesses are the transaction signatures. Hence, Segregated Witness in short, means to separate transaction signatures.

SegWit is an update for Bitcoin Core. It is assumed that this update will solve the problems. But some users, mining firms, i.e. Bitmain, and companies, i.e. Bitcoin Unlimited, do not support this idea. So, the realization of SegWit can split the whole system of Bitcoin. Some users and miners will accept new standards, but others can use the older version of Bitcoin code. So, different variants are considered to avoid this and save the one Blockchain of transactions.

When you are inspired by some great purpose, some extraordinary project, all of your thoughts break their bonds. Your mind transcends limitations; your consciousness expands in every direction; and you find yourself in a new, great and wonderful world. Dormant forces, faculties and talents become alive and you discover yourself to be a greater person than you ever dreamed yourself to be. – Patañjali the compiler of the Yoga Sutra

A lion is fully capable of capturing, killing, and eating a field mouse. But it turns out that the energy required to do so exceeds the caloric content of the mouse itself. So a lion that spent its day hunting and eating field mice would slowly starve to death. A lion can’t live on field mice. A lion needs antelope. Antelope are big animals. They take more speed and strength to capture and kill, but once killed, they provide a feast for the lion and her pride… So ask yourself at the end of the day, ‘Did I spend today chasing mice or hunting antelope?’

Nairobi which is famous for having the world’s only game reserve in a large city is the capital city of Kenya, with a population of about 3.5million people as of 2016. The official languages in Kenya to which all Nairobians can converse in are Swahili and English.

Climate:
The climate is warm and temperate in Nairobi, but there is a significant amount of rainfall during the year. Winter days, between June and August, are mild with slightly cooler evenings. The drizzliest months are March to May. May and June can have high of 20 degrees Celsius, and lows of 12 degrese Celsius, with rainfall of 16cm.

Electricity
In Kenya the power sockets are of “type G” British BS-1363 type. The standard voltage is 240 V and the standard frequency is 50 Hz. See https://www.adaptelec.com/index.php?main_page=document_general_info&products_id=213

Trade:
Kenya Shillings (KES) is the currency used. Forex bureau at Nairobi City Center offer the best conversion rates. Major currencies are accepted. If you are coming from outside East Africa, you may have to carry with you any major currency.
Major credit cards and debit cards branded ATMs can be found everywhere from malls to gas stations. They disburse local Kenya Shillings. This page from the Central Bank of Kenya shows the prevailing exchange rates https://www.centralbank.go.ke/forex/
You can shop with your Credit Card or Visa/Mastercard branded card in major shopping malls and hotels.
Mobile Money is a widely used form of payment, with the world famous MPESA from Safaricom being the market leader.

Communication
You will need your Passport to register into any cellular network. Safaricom has the widest coverage of all cellular networks, and is the largest company in East Africa. Airtel and Orange also have good coverage. These three cellular networks offer competitive data packages. You can buy their sim cards from the airport and major malls at between $1 to $2.

Transport
Taxi hailing companies like Uber, Little cab, Mondo ride, and Taxify are established in the city with stiff competition between them. Safaricom owned Little cab, and Uber are the market leaders. Their apps are available on Android and Apple App stores.
There are many taxis in Nairobi City which you can use to move around. You are advised to inquire the price before starting your journey.
Public city buses shuttle from the airport to the city center, at a cost of KES100, which is around $1. The buses are in operation from 7am to 8pm. Public transport in the city operates from major terminals, roads, and bus stops. The cost for moving between different parts of the city would range from KES50 to KES150 ($0.5 to $1.5).

Tourist Attraction.
Nairobi National Park, located 7 Km south of the city offers the widest variety of tourism attraction sites.
1. Safari Walk: With its raised wooden boardwalk that allows for uninterrupted views of the animals, the Safari Walk is a show case for Kenya’s Parks and Reserves, allowing visitors to discover what they can expect to see across the country. Visitors can see a sample of the country’s rich animal life including the rare bongo, white rhino and albino zebra as well as big cats, antelopes and primates. It is also home to some 150 species of local trees. The non-resident fees is $22 for adults and $13 for children.
2. The Nairobi Animal Orphanage is located in the Nairobi National Park. It serves a treatments and rehabilitation centre for wild animals. The Orphanage hosts lions, cheetahs, hyenas, jackals, serval cats, rare Sokoke cats, warthogs, leopards, various monkeys, baboons and buffalo. Various birds can also be viewed including parrots, guinea fowls, crowned cranes and ostriches. The non-resident fees is $22 for adults and $13 for children.
3. The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust is located at the KWS Central Workshop Gate, off, Magadi Rd, Nairobi, Kenya and is open to the public for one hour every day, from 11am to Noon. During this time the orphans arrive for their midday mud bath and feeding. Entrance to the orphanage for the visiting hour requires minimum contribution of $7 US dollars / 500 Kenya shillings per person.
4. Nairobi National Park: Nairobi National Park established in 1946 is the only natural game park in a city. It is located 7km south of the city center. I. Animals you can see at the park are Zebras, Giraffes, Antelopes, Impala, Wildebeests. There are also several Lions, Cheetas, Hippopotamus, and Rhinos. The park is highly recommended for anyone who loves Safaris. The non-resident fees is $43 for adults and $23 for children.
5. Nairobi museum located 1km from the city is open all year long from 0830hrs -17300hrs.
6. Giraffe Center is located in Karen, 5 Km from Nairobi
7. Panari Sky center along Mombasa road, 7 Km from the airport on the way to the city has a large ice skating rink with hourly skating sessions.
8. Mamba Village is a crocodile sanctuary Located 12 Km south of the city

Food, Restaurants and Entertainment
Nairobi is a cosmopolitan city. It’s cuisine you can be found in any big city anywhere in the world. The staple food for the inhabitants is Ugali, which is stiff porridge, usually accompanied by green vegetables and stewed meat. Past time for many Nairobians would include eating nyama choma (barbecued meat) accompanied by Kenya’s popular beer Tusker over the weekends. Although tap water is generally clean and treated, visitors are advised to take only bottled water. Tipping is not mandatory, but it is between 5% and 10%.
Popular restaurants and entertainment joints include
1. Java restaurants – a chain of finest Kenyan coffee located is several locations within the city. Want Kenyan coffee beans? Try them.
2. Carnivore Restaurant, Fogo Gaucho, and Safaripark hotel which are popular with their “all you can eat barbecue”.
2. Brew Bistro, and Sierra who brew their own beer.
3. Klub house (K1) Parklands
4. Florida Night Club

Accommodation:
Nairobi has several hotels with different ratings from five. AirBnB is also popular among budget travelers.

Shopping and Antiques
You can get Kenyan traditional antiques at City Market at the city center. Other places would be the nomadic Maasai market which moves to a different location every day of the week. It operates from 8am to 6pm. Here are the locations.
Tuesday: Westgate Shopping Mall in Westlands (the upper car park) (relocated to Kijabe street opposite the Norfolk Hotel)
Wednesday: Capital Centre on Mombasa Road near the airport
Thursday: Nakumatt Junction Shopping Mall on Ngong Road
Friday: Village Market in Gigiri (the upper car park)
Saturday: The High Court parking lot in the city center (behind the Hilton)
Sunday: Yaya Centre in Hurlingham

Malls: Nairobi has many huge malls selling all popular brands. You can try Sarit Center in Westlands, the gigantic Two Rivers in Kikisuru, Garden City along Thika road, among many others.

Security
Like any large city, Nairobi has it’s security challenges, but it’ s nothing out of the ordinary. You should avoid deserted alleys in the city. Also avoid flushing valuables like jewellery and money.

Is there anything you need to know about Nairobi? Is there any addition to make the blog post more informative? Leave a comment.

I once met a mysterious guy at a dingy coffe house “ABC coffee house”. The coffee house was located somewhere between KTDA Plaza and development house along Moi avenue in Nairobi. He gave me some random wise words that still resonate today. The crowning moment of his speech came at one of my lowest points of my life, little education, jobless, in a strange land, and business doing badly. He said “success is like a road. It’s a journey you have to travel. The road must have corners, although corners do not last long, and neither are they longer than the straight paths”. That was way back in April of 2007.

This reminds me that it’s not the big things that coubt, it’s those small steps you take in life that propel you to greater heights. Remember, first you have to row a little boat.

“The [below] speech which shows the real intention of the Christian missionary journey in Africa was exposed to the world by Mr. Moukouani Muikwani Bukoko, born in the Congo in 1915, and who in 1935 while working in the Congo, bought a second hand Bible from a Belgian priest who forgot the speech in the Bible.” — Dr. Chiedozie Okoro

Letter from King Leopold II of Belgium to Colonial Missionaries, 1883
The letter which follows is Courtesy of Dr. Vera Nobles and Dr. Chiedozie Okoro.

“Reverends, Fathers and Dear Compatriots: The task that is given to fulfill is very delicate and requires much tact. You will go certainly to evangelize, but your evangelization must inspire above all Belgium interests. Your principal objective in our mission in the Congo is never to teach the niggers to know God, this they know already. They speak and submit to a Mungu, one Nzambi, one Nzakomba, and what else I don’t know. They know that to kill, to sleep with someone else’s wife, to lie and to insult is bad. Have courage to admit it; you are not going to teach them what they know already. Your essential role is to facilitate the task of administrators and industrials, which means you will go to interpret the gospel in the way it will be the best to protect your interests in that part of the world. For these things, you have to keep watch on disinteresting our savages from the richness that is plenty [in their underground. To avoid that, they get interested in it, and make you murderous] competition and dream one day to overthrow you.

Your knowledge of the gospel will allow you to find texts ordering, and encouraging your followers to love poverty, like “Happier are the poor because they will inherit the heaven” and, “It’s very difficult for the rich to enter the kingdom of God.” You have to detach from them and make them disrespect everything which gives courage to affront us. I make reference to their Mystic System and their war fetish-warfare protection-which they pretend not to want to abandon, and you must do everything in your power to make it disappear.

Your action will be directed essentially to the younger ones, for they won’t revolt when the recommendation of the priest is contradictory to their parent’s teachings. The children have to learn to obey what the missionary recommends, who is the father of their soul. You must singularly insist on their total submission and obedience, avoid developing the spirit in the schools, teach students to read and not to reason. There, dear patriots, are some of the principles that you must apply. You will find many other books, which will be given to you at the end of this conference. Evangelize the niggers so that they stay forever in submission to the white colonialists, so they never revolt against the restraints they are undergoing. Recite every day-“Happy are those who are weeping because the kingdom of God is for them.”

Convert always the blacks by using the whip. Keep their women in nine months of submission to work freely for us. Force them to pay you in sign of recognition-goats, chicken or eggs-every time you visit their villages. And make sure that niggers never become rich. Sing every day that it’s impossible for the rich to enter heaven. Make them pay tax each week at Sunday mass. Use the money supposed for the poor, to build flourishing business centres. Institute a confessional system, which allows you to be good detectives denouncing any black that has a different consciousness contrary to that of the decision-maker. Teach the niggers to forget their heroes and to adore only ours. Never present a chair to a black that comes to visit you. Don’t give him more than one cigarette. Never invite him for dinner even if he gives you a chicken every time you arrive at his house.

“The above speech which shows the real intention of the Christian missionary journey in Africa was exposed to the world by Mr. Moukouani Muikwani Bukoko, born in the Congo in 1915, and who in 1935 while working in the Congo, bought a second hand Bible from a Belgian priest who forgot the speech in the Bible. — Dr. Chiedozie Okoro